Ischia earthquake: cheers go up as rescuers free third trapped brother

Rescue teams on the Italian island of Ischia have freed the last of three brothers who were trapped after a magnitude 4.0 earthquake that killed two women and left 39 injured, at least one of them seriously.

TV cameras recorded cheers going up as Ciro, 11, was carried on a stretcher from the rubble of his home at about 1.30pm local time on Tuesday. Firefighters announced the success with a tweet that said: “Even Ciro is saved!”

Rescuers who worked through the night had earlier pulled out seven-month-old Pasquale, then eight-year-old Mattias. The two elder boys hid under a bed after the first tremor on Monday night.

The boys’ father, whose hands were bandaged after spending the night digging through the rubble alongside the firefighters, could be seen tearfully hugging relatives as his eldest son was saved

Firefighter spokesman Luca Cari described the work to free the boys as complicated. He said rescuers had maintained voice contact with the children throughout. “There was silence for a while, they were tired. Then they began speaking again and we drew comfort from that,” he said.

One woman died after being buried under the rubble of her home in the town of Casamicciola while another was killed after being hit by debris falling from a church.

The strength of the quake under the island in the Bay of Naples was revised up to magnitude 4.0 by the INGV, Italy’s seismic observatory, after initially being reported at 3.6. More than 2,500 people were reported to be homeless or displaced and about 1,500 have fled the island.

The earthquake came two days before the first anniversary of an earthquake in central Italy in which almost 300 people died. Ischia’s deadliest quake occurred in 1883, killing 2,300.

On Monday, residents and tourists on the island, which is crowded at the height of the summer season, ran out on to the streets from homes and hospitals. Reports suggested the hardest-hit area was Casamicciola in the north of the island.

Television images showed about six buildings in the town as well as a church had collapsed in the quake, which struck just before 9pm as many people were having dinner.

At least one hotel and parts of a hospital were evacuated. Roberto Allocca, a doctor from a local hospital, told Sky TG24 television that at least 20 people were being treated for minor injuries at a makeshift emergency room set up in the hospital grounds. Allocca said the situation was calm and under control.

Most of the hospital had been evacuated and the injured were being treated outside.

Civil protection crews, already on the island in force to fight the forest fires that have been ravaging southern Italy, were checking the status of the buildings that suffered damage, while more were arriving from the mainland.

Television reports said the buildings that had collapsed appeared to have been inhabited and a number of people were still unaccounted for.

Together with the nearby island of Capri, Ischia is a favourite island getaway for Europe’s rich and famous, known in particular for its thermal waters. It gained further fame after featuring in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels.